Strategic Priority 6: Foster a Dynamic and Supportive Environment for HSLS Staff
We foster a dynamic and supportive work environment by building collaborative teams, leveraging emerging technologies, and encouraging professional development.
Strategic Goals Addressed in FY 25
- Goal: Create collaborative teams
- Goal: Engage with emerging technologies
- Goal: Support professional development
A focus of this year was the development of HSLS’s mission/vision statement and strategic priorities, formed together as the three-year HSLS Strategic Plan. Staff engaged heavily with this process and formulated an impressive set of 45 actions to support HSLS goals. In alignment with the goals set, several professional development and emerging technology presentations were provided to staff for instructional as well as day-to-day work support. HSLS staff responded positively to a call to form six new teams that would carry out topic-focused work across library departments.
Professional Development
HSLS promoted professional growth for staff through a variety of learning opportunities, including national and regional conferences, skill-building classes, and specialized training, ensuring staff stay current with emerging trends and skills.
Strategic Priority Actions – 45 actions
All HSLS staff and faculty set goals to meet strategic priorities, split into specific pieces called actions. Including stretch goals, these actions set the roadmap for the next 2-to-3 years of HSLS projects and tasks.
Collaborative Teams – 6 teams and 23 staff
Twenty-three staff opted to participate in newly formed collaborative teams in HSLS, taking on a variety of charges such as rotation-focused resources, survey best practices, and wellness and engagement activities.
Presentations
Looking at timely technology topics, HSLS staff are exposed to technology topics on a quarterly basis in a new initiative for FY 25.
Professional Development for HSLS Instructors
Overview
Formal professional development sessions for instructors were provided several times during the year.
Sessions Offered
- Formative assessment: basics and higher-ed literature review
- Using Generative AI responsibly to create learning objectives and assessment questions
- Adjusting a lesson for a new audience
- Using Top Hat to facilitate active learning
Instruction Skills
Additionally, the HSLS Instructional Design Lead provided guidance to instructors for growth in instruction skills.
These took the form of:
- Collaboration to create or improve a self-paced learning module on Canvas
- Consult regarding development of a new class or lesson
- Classroom observation of the instructor followed by feedback and suggestions tailored to that instructor’s goals
- Quality Assurance process run on a draft self-paced learning module with instructional design feedback as well as accessibility feedback provided
Faculty and Staff Scholarship
Althans, A.R., Byrd, T., Suppok, R., Lee, K. K., Rosengart, M. R., & Myers S. P. The role of holistic review in diversifying graduate medical education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Surg Educ 3, 67 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44186-024-00269-y
Bove, A., Aldhahwani, B., Turner, R., Repage, S., Denny, P., Brand, C., Sweeney, K., Allison, S., Ross, H., Allen, K. D., Magnani, J. W., Terhorst, L., Delitto, A., & Freburger, J. (2024). Beyond Discharge Disposition: A Scoping Review on Sociodemographic Disparities in Rehabilitation Use After Hip and Knee Arthroplasty. Physical therapy, 104(10), pzae074. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzae074
Dunlap, P. M., Fan, E. K., Hubbard, Z. L., VonVille, H. M., Strotmeyer, E. S., & Rosso, A. L. (2025). Outdoor Environmental Risk Factors for Falls and Fear of Falling: A Systematic Review. The Gerontologist, 65(5), gnaf078. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf078
Freburger, J. K., Mormer, E. R., Ressel, K., Zhang, S., Johnson, A. M., Pastva, A. M., Turner, R. L., Coyle, P. C., Bushnell, C. D., Duncan, P. W., & Berkeley, S. B. J. (2025). Disparities in Access to, Use of, and Quality of Rehabilitation After Stroke in the United States: A Scoping Review. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 106(5), 759–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2024.10.010
Griffin, N. E., Ferrell, M., Feldman, R., Dasyam, A. K., Slivka, A., Khalid, A., Singh, H., Gabbert, C., Das, R., Mahmood, S., Rabinovitz, M., Chennat, J., Romutis, S., Klem, M. L., Yadav, D., & Phillips, A. E. (2024). Natural history of spontaneous pancreatic portal vein fistulae: A systematic review of the literature. Pancreatology: official journal of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) … [et al.], 24(6), 870–877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pan.2024.07.016
Hui, V., Zhang, B., Jeon, B., Wong, K. C. A., Klem, M. L., & Lee, Y. J. (2024). Harnessing Health Information Technology in Domestic Violence in the United States: A Scoping Review. Public health reviews, 45, 1606654. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2024.1606654
Hutchinson, R. N., Chiu, E. J., Belin, S. C., Klein-Fedyshin, M., Impagliazzo, C. R., Costanza, L., Passarelli, J., Patel, P. P., Sahay, S., Shen, A., Razskazovskiy, V., & Schenker, Y. (2025). How is Telehealth Used to Increase Access to Specialty Palliative Care? A Systematic Review. Journal of pain and symptom management, 69(4), e303–e314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2024.12.017
McGuier, E. A., Kolko, D. J., Aarons, G. A., Schachter, A., Klem, M. L., Diabes, M. A., Weingart, L. R., Salas, E., & Wolk, C. B. (2024). Teamwork and implementation of innovations in healthcare and human service settings: a systematic review. Implementation science : IS, 19(1), 49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-024-01381-9
Mary Gail Merlina received the MAC Award for Excellence by Health Sciences Library Staff from the Medical Library Association (Mid-Atlantic Chapter).
Michele Klein-Fedyshin received the Ida and George Eliot Prize for Publication from the Medical Library Association (national).
Kelsey Cowles, Rebekah Miller, and Rachel Suppok named in the Library Instruction Roundtable Top 20 Instruction Articles of 2024 by the Library Instruction Roundtable/American Library Association.
Kračun D, Lopes LR, Cifuentes-Pagano E, Pagano PJ. NADPH oxidases: redox regulation of cell homeostasis and disease. Physiol Rev. 2025;105(3):1291-1428. doi:10.1152/physrev.00034.2023 (Chattopadhyay, Ansuman)
Leite TC, Wankiiri-Hale CR, Shah NH, Vasquez CS, Pavlowski EM, Koury SE, Kim J, Ceravolo KM, Weinberg SM, Horvath Z. Change is never easy: Exploring the transition from undergraduate to dental student in a U.S.-based program. PLoS One. 2025 Apr 15;20(4):e0321494. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321494. PMID: 40233065; PMCID: PMC11999116. (Suppok, Rachel)
Gabrielson, S., Antiya, D. S., Mahmoud, R. S. G., Chim, M., Tatarian, A., Farley, A., Melis, A., Yuka, G., Riffe, R., Rodsangiam, C., & Rittman, M. (2025). PREreview of “Article Processing Charges Threaten Global Health Equity: Open Access is Closed Science”. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14796801
Gabrielson, S., Krishnan, N., Geles, K., Sabet, S. S., Saikia, Q., Chim, M., Hinrichs, N., Rodsangiam, C., & Rittman, M. (2024). PREreview of “Open Science interventions to improve reproducibility and replicability of research: a scoping review preprint”. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13149713
Ningappa, M., Ashokkumar, C., Murali, D., Rajasundaram, D., Higgs, B. W., McDonald, W., Schmitt, L., Zhang, L., Chattopadhyay, A., Kane, M., Murphy, P., Soltys, K., Mazariegos, G., Gupta, S., Kar, U., Billiar, T., Zeevi, A., Xu, Q., Reyes-Múgica, M., … Sindhi, R. (2025). Liver transplant rejection features memory cell priming, spatially differentiated networks and novel drug targets. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.04.635308
Ragon, B., Seymour, A., Whipple, E., Surkis, A., Haberstroh, A., Muilenburg, J., Rethlefsen, M. L., Aspinall, E., Deaver, J., Dexter, N., Barger, R., Contaxis, N., Glenn, E. J., Hinton, E., Kern, B., Little, M., Pickett, K., Sevetson, E., Tao, D., … Holmes, K. (2024). The Role of Information Science within the Clinical Translational Science Ecosystem. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13172254
Cenname, A., & Chattopadhyay, A. (2025). Enhancing All of Us Data Utilization Through Innovative Library Initiatives [Conference paper]. Medical Library Association Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Chaparala, S., & Chattopadhyay, A. (2025). Empowering Biomedical Research Through Library-Led Bioinformatics Support: Insights from the Molecular Biology Information Service [Conference paper]. Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Chattopadhyay, A. (2025). Harnessing GenAI for Scientific Literature Search, Summarization, and Review, in the panel presentation “AI, Health Data, and Librarianship: Strategies for Responsible Use” [Conference presentation]. Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Cowles, K., Suppok, R., Miller, R., & Thornton, S. (2025). The Case of the Charming Clinician: Development of an Instructional Health Misinformation Escape Room [Conference poster]. Medical Library Association Annual Meeting.
Escobar-Viera, C., Alcaraz, K., Buro, A., Costas-Muñiz, R., Fields, S., Heron, K., Hollis-Hansen, K., Kusters, I., Lo, B., Njie-Carr, V. P. S., Panza, E., Pedreira, P., Porta, G., Sall, K., Schmitt, T., Serpas, D., Suppok, R., Tarfa, A., Yi, J, & Wippold, G. (2025). A scoping review of frameworks used for cultural adaptation of digital behavioral health interventions [Conference poster]. 46th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Karakis, N., Asikin-Garmager, A., Han, S., Brace, D., & Yarger, F. (2024). Riding off into the Sunset: Designing a Summative Program Outcome and Impact Evaluation that Tells Our Story [Conference presentation]. American Evaluation Association Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
Klein-Fedyshin, M., Young, A.H., McCausland, J.B., Auer-Porch, A., Populo, M., & Cenname, A. (2025). Supporting Physicians in Training via quality improvements projects using evidence-based library services for residents’ development and wellbeing [Conference paper]. Medical Library Association Annual Meeting.
Klein-Fedyshin, M., Young, A.H., Auer-Porch, A., Populo, M.M., & McCausland, J.B. (2025). Embedded health sciences librarian services support transitional year residents’ ACGME requirements and well-being [Conference poster]. Association for Hospital Medical Education Meeting.
Klem, M. L., & Barger, R. (2024). All or Nothing: Why We Do Not Offer Systematic Review Consultations [Conference abstract]. Library Evidence Synthesis Services Symposium, virtual.
Kubilius, R., Williams, D., Barger, R., Burgard, D., & McClung, S. (2024). Clinical Information Provision in an Era of Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions (24th Health Sciences Lively Discussion) [slide deck]. Charleston Conference. https://doi.org/10.18131/necz9-4rf94
Miller, R., Thornton, S., & Koleck, T. (2025). Self-paced learning modules prepare nursing students to lead conversations about health misinformation with patients and colleagues [Conference paper]. Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Mormer, E., Cowles, K., Smiley, A., Coyle, J., & Freburger, J. (2024). Racial and ethnic disparities in oropharyngeal dysphagia outcomes and speech-language pathology utilization: a scoping review [Conference poster]. SHRS, UPMC, and PM&R Rehab Institute Research Day.
Mukhopadhyay, N., Cenname, A., Shaffer, J. R., & Marazita, M. L. (2024). Association of Orofacial Cleft Risk Loci with Elevated Risk of Prostate Cancer [Conference poster]. American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting.
Sall, K., Koczo, A., Keen, S., Countouris, M., Hauspurg, A., Miller, R., & Muldoon, M. (2025). Impact of Immediate Postpartum Diuretic Treatment on Postpartum Blood Pressure Among Individuals with Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDPS): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [Conference poster]. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0735-1097(25)02947-X
Sinemus, H. (2024). The All of Us Research Program Training and Education Platform [Conference presentation]. All of Us Research Program FQHC Exchange.
Sinemus, H., Asikin-Garmager, A., Karakis, N., Brace, D., Glenn, A., Norman, P., Miller, B., & Hashmi, N. (2024). ACT Needs Assessment, Highlights and Recommendations for 2025 [Conference presentation]. All of Us Consortium Training Board.
Yarkony, A., Butler, R., Klein-Fedyshin, M., Andersen, S.K., Switzer, G.E., & White, D.B. (2025). Developing an Instrument to Measure Clinicians’ Skill in Conducting Goals of Care Conversations in the Inpatient Setting [Conference poster]. Department of Critical Care Medicine’s Fink Scholar Day, University of Pittsburgh.
Young, A. (2025). Evaluating generative AI tools in clinical and research practice [Conference presentation]. UPMC Hamot Patricia Ladds Research Day, Erie, PA, United States.
Young, A., & Senko, K. (2024). Harboring success: A collaborative approach to enhancing medical education support [Conference presentation]. Southern Chapter and Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association Joint Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC, United States.
Kalaria, A. L., Yamada, T., Klein-Fedyshin, M., Obata, S., Cruz-Peralta, M., Parrish, B., Rahman, A. Z., Molinari, M., & Mehta, R. B. (2024). Subclinical rejection and allograft survival in kidney transplantation: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ open, 14(7), e085098. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085098
Klem, M., Byrd, T., Brown, J., Boland, S., & Neal, M. (2024, May 13). Health Equity and Emergency Colorectal Surgery in the U.S.: A Protocol for a Scoping Review. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/U49SP
Birru Talabi, M., Miller, R., & Krishnamurti, T. (2025). Medication decision making under uncertainty: Considering chronic disease and pregnancy potential. Seminars in perinatology, 49(3), 152057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semperi.2025.152057
Vats, K., Tian, H., Singh, K., Tyurina, Y. Y., Sparvero, L. J., Tyurin, V. A., Kruglov, O., Chang, A., Wang, J., Green, F., Samovich, S. N., Zhang, J., Chattopadhyay, A., Murray, N., Shah, V. K., Mathers, A. R., Chandran, U. R., Pilewski, J. M., Kellum, J. A., Wenzel, S. E., … Bunimovich, Y. L. (2024). Ferroptosis of select skin epithelial cells initiates and maintains chronic systemic immune-mediated psoriatic disease. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 135(2), e183219. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI183219
Milliner, V., Balkenhol, M., Thomas, B., & Sinemus, H. (2025). Partnerships Summary Report. University of Iowa Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, and University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System.
Thomas, B., Asikin-Garmager, A., Sinemus, H., Giffin, J., Han, S., Acosta-Ramirez, S., Valencia, I., & Milliner, V. (2025). NAPC Program Development and Infrastructure Closeout Report. University of Iowa Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, and University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System.
Sinemus, H., & Norman, P. (2024). The Role of the Training Coordinator. All of Us Research Program Training and Education Platform.
Professional Service Positions and Memberships
- Accessibility Advocates Across Pitt
- Accessibility Training Partners program
- CEC Health & Wellness Working Group
- Discipline-Based Science Education Research Center (dB-SERC)
- Faculty Information Systems Working Group
- Health Sciences Instruction Community of Practice
- Information Technology Advisory Committee
- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
- Instructional Design Partners program
- Pitt Cyber
- Pitt University Senate
- Provost’s Standing Committee on Open Educational Resources
- Research Ethics Consultation Service
- School of Medicine Curriculum Committee
- School of Nursing Schoolwide Curriculum Committee
- Working Group on Interprofessional Education
- Academic Data Science Alliance
- Working Group on Academic Assessment for Data Science
- Advancing a Networked Approach to Equitable Open Science, National Library of Medicine
- All of Us Consortium Training (ACT) Board, Co-Chair
- American Library Association (ALA) (National)
- Metadata & Collections, Technology, Access & Equity, Leadership & Management
- ASAPbio
- Crowd Preprint Review for Metasearch, Co-Lead
- Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries
- New and Interim Director Committee
- Data Discovery Collaboration
- DMPTool Editorial Board
- EDUCAUSE
- International Society for Bioinformatics
- IP Registry Library Advisory Group
- Library of Congress Program for Cooperative Cataloging
- NACO (Name Authority Cooperative Cataloging)
- Medical Library Association (Mid-Atlantic Chapter)
- Diversity & Inclusion Committee
- Research & Assessment Committee, Chair
- Executive Board, Treasurer
- Honors and Awards Committee
- Medical Library Association (National)
- Local Arrangements Committee for 2025 Annual Meeting, Chair
- Local Arrangements Committee for 2025 Annual Meeting
- Local Assistance Committee for Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
- North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) (National)
- PCC Entity Management Cooperative (EMCO)
- WorldCat Entities/Meridian Community of Practice, Co-Chair
- PLOS One, Peer Reviewer
- Research Data Access and Preservation Association (RDAP)
- The Reference Librarian, Peer Reviewer
- Women in Bio
- Membership, Advisors, Peers and Sponsorship (MAPS) mentoring program Co-Chair